Inflatable cargo dunnage bags are used within the cargo shipment or transportation industry as a means for readily and easily securing or bracing cargo within the holds of, for example, railroad cars, ships, airplanes, truck trailers, and the like. Such inflatable cargo dunnage bags conventionally comprise an inflatable bladder which is enclosed within an outer bag or envelope which can be conventionally fabricated from a variety of materials and which may have different structures. In general, however, such inflatable cargo dunnage bags are conventionally of such construction and size as to readily enable the same to be inserted into voids or spaces defined between spaced loads, or between a particular cargo load and a side or end wall of the cargo container or hold, whereupon inflation of the inflatable cargo dunnage bag, the inflatable cargo dunnage bag will expand thereby fixedly engaging the adjacent cargo loads, or the cargo load and the container wall, so as to secure the cargo loads against undesirable movement during transit. Obviously, in order to achieve the inflation of the inflatable cargo dunnage bags to a predetermined pressurized level, such inflatable cargo dunnage bags are conventionally provided with an inflation valve assembly so as to permit pressurized air or compressed air to be conducted into the interior portion of the inflatable bladder so as to inflate the same, or to permit the pressurized air or compressed air, already disposed within the inflated bladder, to be exhausted out from the interior portion of the inflatable bladder so as to deflate the same when, for example, the usage of the inflatable cargo dunnage bags has been completed, that is, when the cargo loads are to be unloaded at, for example, the transportation or shipment terminal.
One conventional inflation valve assembly is disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,244 which issued to Krier et al. on Jan. 21, 1992, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As can best be appreciated from FIG. 1, which substantially corresponds to FIG. 5 of the Krier et al. patent, the inflatable cargo dunnage bag is seen to comprise first and second sheets 16,24 between which is interposed an inflatable bladder 22. An inlation valve assembly 28 is fixedly secured to the inflatable bladder 22 and passes through the sheet 24 so as to effectvey define an external connection to a source of compressed or pressurized air in order to permit the inflatable bladder 22 to be inflated with the pressurized or compressed air. More particularly, the inflation valve assembly 28 comprises a tubular valve body 30 which has an axially oriented passageway 32 extending therethrough, and an annular flange 34 which is located inside and affixed to an internal surface portion of the inflatable bladder 22 so as to define a sealed connection therewith. An annular valve seat 36 is disposed at the lower end portion of the valve body 30, and the upper end portion of the valve body 30 comprises first and second frustoconically shaped sections 38,40. An annular ring member 42 is interposed between the frustoconically shaped section 40 and the external surface portion of the sheet 24 so as to effectively secure the valve body 30 in place upon the inflatable cargo dunnage bag as a result of clamping the sheet 24 and the upper wall portion of the inflatable bladder 22 between the annular ring member 42 and the annular flange 34.
Continuing further, it is seen that the inflation valve assembly 28 also comprises a valve stem 44 which is disposed within the axially oriented passageway 32, and that the valve stem 44 terminates in an annular closure plate 46 which is disposed within the inflatable bladder 22. In addition, it is seen that the annular closure plate 46 has an upstanding annular ridge 48 formed thereon which is adapted to be seated upon the annular valve seat 36 when the inflation valve assembly 28 is disposed at its closed position. A coil spring member 50 is annularly disposed around the valve stem 44 so as to in fact normally bias the annular flange 34 and the valve seat 36 downwardly toward the closed position into engagement with the annular closure plate 46. Furthermore, it is also seen that an inflator assembly 54 is adapted to be removably mounted upon the inflation valve assembly 28 so as to in fact achieve inflation of the inflatable bladder 22 when desired. More particularly, the inflator assembly 54 comprises a main body portion 56, an annular member 58 that is threadedly mounted upon a lower end region of the main body portion 56, and an annular collar 60 which is also mounted upon the main body portion 56 so as to effectively surround the annular member 58 and be vertically movable with respect to the annular member 58 as a result of annular groove 62 and annular flange 64 structure respectively formed upon the main body portion 56 and the annular collar 60 which permits the annular flange 64 to move in the axial direction within the annular groove 62. It is further seen that the main body portion 56 comprises a main axially oriented through bore or fluid passageway 66, and that the upper end portion of the fluid passageway is internally threaded as at 68 so as to provide a threaded connection to a source of compressed air, such as, for example, a compressed air hose, not shown. The lower end portion of the main body portion 56 terminates in an annular portion 70 that is adapted to be engaged with or seated upon the upper end portion 52 of the valve stem 44 when the inflator assembly 54 is mounted upon the inflation valve assembly 28, and it is noted that the upper end portion 52 of the valve stem 44 is structured so as to permit air to pass therethrough from the fluid passageway 66 into the axially oriented passageway 32. Still yet further, a plurality of detent balls 72 are mounted upon the annular member 58 so as to be radially movable between radially inner and radially outer positions.
Accordingly, when, for example, the annular collar 60 is moved downwardly with respect to annular member 58, the detent balls 72 will be forced radially inwardly so as to ride over the circumferential edge portion 78 of the first frusto-conically shaped section 38 and be disposed within an annular detent region 80 defined between the first and second frusto-conically shaped sections 38,40, thereby locking the inflator assembly 54 upon the inflation valve assembly 28. In addition, the engagement of the detent balls 72 within the annular detent region 80 will force the tubular valve body 30 to move upwardly with respect to the valve stem 44, while the lower annular portion 70 of the main body portion 56 remains engaged with the upper end portion 52 of the valve stem 44. Accordingly, the coil spring member 50 is axially compressed and the valve seat 36 is disengaged from the annular closure plate 46, thereby opening the inflation valve assembly 28 so as to permit the compressed air to pass through the fluid passageway 66 of the inflator assembly 54 and the passageway 32 of the valve body 30 so as to inflate the inflatable bladder 22. Conversely, when the annular collar 60 is moved upwardly with respect to annular member 58, the detent balls 72 will be permitted to move radially outwardly so as to the inflator assembly 54 to be disengaged from the inflation valve assembly 28. It is lastly noted that the annular member 58 also has an O-ring member 74 disposed upon an internal peripheral surface portion thereof for sealing engagement with the first frustoconically shaped section 38, and that an external flange portion 76 is integrally formed upon the annular collar 60 so as to facilitate the axial movement of the annular collar 60 with respect to the annular member 58.
It is noted that, in connection with the employment of such inflatable cargo dunnage bags, certain regulatory associations, commissions, agencies, governing bodies, and the like, have promulgated particular rules or regulations concerning the actual usage of such inflatable cargo dunnage bags. For example, the American Association of Railroads has mandated that such inflatable cargo dunnage bags cannot be reused once they have in fact been used in connection with the transportation or shipping of a particular cargo load. The reason for this is effectively based upon safety considerations in that, during the course of a particular shipment of cargo, the inflatable cargo dunnage bags will undoubtedly be subjected to various forces which, while not necessarily destroying the inflatable cargo dunnage bags, such forces will nevertheless compromise their structural integrity to a certain degree, thereby rendering their reuse a safety hazard from the point of view of properly protecting or securing future cargo loads. On the other hand, during the course of the initial usage of the inflatable cargo dunnage bags, the inflatable cargo dunnage bags are in fact permitted to be repositioned. For example, when the inflatable cargo dunnage bags are initially being positioned between different cargo loads in order to brace or stabilize the same, it sometimes happens that the cargo loads may shift their positions.
Accordingly, it is desired to reposition the inflatable cargo dunnage bags in order to better brace or stabilize the cargo loads at their newly shifted positions. This procedure therefore requires that the inflated cargo dunnage bags be deflated, repositioned, and again inflated once the cargo dunnage bags have in fact been located or repositioned at the newly desired locations or positions with respect to the particular cargo loads. With conventional inflation valve assemblies, such as, for example, the aforenoted inflation valve assembly 28 as disclosed within FIG. 1 and the aforenoted patent to Krier et al., such conventional inflation valve assemblies do not readily, easily, and quickly permit the rapid deflation of the inflatable cargo dunnage bags in order to permit the inflatable cargo dunnage bags to be readily, easily, and quickly repositioned. Conventionally, for example, the inflatable cargo dunnage bags must be manually deflated as a result of, for example, the inflation valve assembly being manually manipulated to its open position so as to permit the air disposed within the inflated cargo dunnage bags to escape. Obviously, this is a very difficult, tedious, and time-consuming operation. Alternatively, the inflatable cargo dunnage bag to be repositioned is simply cut open, the air permitted to escape, the bag is removed from its original position with respect to the load and discarded, and a new inflatable cargo dunnage bag is inserted at the desired location. Obviously, this procedure is quicker and easier but results in the destruction and waste of a substantial number of inflatable cargo dunnage bags.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a new and improved inflatable cargo dunnage bag wherein, once the same has in fact been inflated, the same can be readily, easily, and quickly deflated as may be required or desired in order to, for example, reposition the inflatable cargo dunnage bag with respect to the particular cargo load in order to properly secure, brace, or stabilize the cargo load, and wherein such deflation of the inflatable cargo dunnage bag does not involve the destruction of the inflatable cargo dunnage bag or the compromising of its structural integrity in any manner.